Why Google, Facebook must nip spy tag

Analyst warns of fears of a ‘U.S. version of the Chinese Internet’

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. have been pushing hard to dispel notions that they have participated in a spying program led by the National Security Agency.

Snowden says he isn't hiding from justice

(3:11)

Edward Snowden, the former government contractor behind one of the biggest national-security leaks in U.S. history, has told a local newspaper he has no plans to leave Hong Kong and intends to challenge the U.S. government in the city's courts.

Those efforts make sense, analysts say, for any suspicion that Google
GOOG, -0.73%
and Facebook
FB, -1.18%
are part of what one analyst painted as a “U.S. version of the Chinese Internet” can be extremely bad for business.

Suspicions that Internet giants like Microsoft Corp.
MSFT, -0.74%
and Yahoo Inc.
YHOO, -1.15%
routinely share information with government agencies could trigger a backlash from two critical constituents: consumers and advertisers, analysts say.

Eva Galperin, a policy analyst with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argues that has already happened. “There’s been enormous damage to the trust between these companies and their users,” she told MarketWatch.

Wang said the charge that companies like Google and Facebook are part of a clandestine data gathering program called PRISM is particularly worrisome.

“If it turns out PRISM is really the U.S. version of the Chinese Internet, you and I would add caution to how much privacy we’d trade for convenience,” he said.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.